Veria F.C.

Veria
Full name Π.Σ. Βέροια (Ποδοσφαιρικός Σύλλογος Βέροια)
Nickname(s) Vasílissa tou Vorrá (Queen of the North)
Rossoblù (The Blue-Reds)
Founded 12 September 1960 (1960-09-12)
as G.A.S. Veria
Ground Veria Stadium
Capacity 7,000[1]
Owner Bikas Group [2]
Chairman Stefanos Apostolidis
Manager Nikos Papanotas
League Gamma Ethniki (Group TBA)
2017–18 Football League, 17th (Withdraw the league due to financial reasons)
Website Club website

Veria Football Club (Greek: Γ.Α.Σ. Βέροια) is a football club based in Veria, Imathia, Greece. Veria FC was founded in September 1960 when two local teams (Hermes and Vermion) merged. On 13 August 2018, the club merged with Elpis Skoutari and it will compete in 2018–19 Gamma Ethniki under the new name of FC Veria (Greek: Π.Σ. Βέροια).

History

20th Century

1960s

In 1960 two local teams of Imathia, Hermes and Vermion, merged when their founders decided that this was the way to create a more competitive club and unite the local fans. Veria's first appearance in professional football championships came in 1962–63, when it finished sixth in the fourth group of Beta Ethniki. Four years later, the club had a breakthrough, finishing first in the third group of Beta Ethniki and then second in the play-offs to gain its first promotion to Alpha Ethniki. Because of this accomplishment, Veria was nicknamed "Queen of the North".

In their first appearance in Alpha Ethniki (season 1967–68), Veria finished in joint tenth position with PAOK and Panionios and two points behind the privileged fifth position which would have made them eligible for an appearance in the Balkans Cup. The following season (1968–69) saw Veria underperform and be relegated after three play-off matches against Olympiakos Volou. Despite the relegation, Veria achieved promotion the next season, again finishing first in Group C of Beta Ethniki.

1970s and 1980s

Veria finished 13th in Alpha Ethniki in the 1970–71 season, during which they suffered a heavy 8–2 defeat by AEK Athens. The following season saw them finish 15th and be relegated again. Despite the relegation, Veria celebrated some notable wins such as against AEK Athens with a score 1–0, Olympiacos with a score 2–1 and against PAOK with another 1–0 score.

From 1972 until 1977, Veria competed in Beta Ethniki. They finished mid-table until 1975 but in 1976–77 tied with Kavala for first place, losing promotion due to inferior goal difference. The following season saw the club achieve promotion back to Alpha Ethniki after a seven-year absence: Veria finished joint first with Doxa Dramas, despite being penalised three points, but they won the promotion due to a superior goal difference.

Veria were relegated again in 1977–78, when they finished 16th. The relegation came after Veria attempted to bribe Christos Hatziskoulidis of Egaleo F.C. to underperform in a match. The team was suspended and deducted ten points.

For the next eight years Veria played in Beta Ethniki, finishing mid-table for seven of them. For five of those seasons Veria faced the other Imathia team, Naoussa, which led to a rivalry between the fans of the two cities. In 1982–83, Naoussa was relegated and the rivality was forgotten.

In 1985–86, Veria played again in Alpha Ethniki following promotion in the previous season. The campaign resulted in the club's best ever league position, finishing joint seventh with AEK and AE Larissa FC. That season, 12 out of 16 teams, including Veria, were docked six points due to a football players' strike.

Despite the great season in Alpha Ethniki, the following season saw Veria being relegated again, as they finished joint 14th out of 16 teams. They had a worse goal difference than Levadiakos and Diagoras.

1990s

After relegation from Alpha Ethniki, Veria remained in Beta Ethniki for three years before being relegated for the first time to Gamma Ethniki. 1991–92 saw them lose promotion back to Beta Ethniki in the last game of the season but they managed the feat in the following year and were able to stay in the division during 1993–94.

Between 1993–97 football in Imathia was at a peak as three of the region's teams played in the professional championships for the first time. In 1994–95, Veria, Naoussa and AE Pontion Verias were part of Beta Ethniki.

In 1995–96 Veria returned to Alpha Ethniki after finishing second in Beta Ethniki. The club finished in 10th position to retain their league status in the following season, when the most notable win was the 1–0 home result against Olympiacos, who won the championship that season. Veria & AEK were the only teams to beat Olympiacos that season. The 1997–98 season saw an improved squad, with players such as Oleg Protasov, Panagiotis Tsalouchidis, finish ninth in the league.

After Veria's win against Olympiacos in season 1997–98, the club was relegated to Beta Ethniki in the following season. This was followed by a further relegation to Gamma Ethniki in the 1999–00 season.

21st Century

2000s

The club experienced management problems and was relegated again in 2000–01, playing in Delta Ethniki for the first time. The new management team, with Konstantinos Gaivazis as head, had to sign 20 players in order that the club could play in Delta Ethniki.

In 2001–02, Veria finished in the mid-table of Deltha Ethniki, ending the sequence of successive relegations. The following season 2002–03, they won every match and returned to Gamma Ethniki after a play-off game against Atsalenios. Another significant achievement for the club that season was the winning of the Amateurs' Cup as they defeated Preveza with score 2–1, in Sofades Stadium at Sofades, Karditsa.

In 2003–04, one of the most powerful businessmen of Imathia became the club's owner. Veria stayed for two seasons in Gamma Ethniki and in the 2004–05 season it returned to Beta Ethniki after finishing first in the North Group of Gamma Ethniki. In season 2005–06 they finished fifth in Beta Ethniki.

The following season did not start well for Veria but in the second half, with Dimitris Kalaitzidis returning as coach after being fired the previous season, they improved so much as to finish third and win promotion to Alpha Ethniki. It was at this time that Alpha Ethniki was renamed as Superleague.

Veria's return in Superleague was inauspicious. The club underperformed Kalaitzidis was fired three games into the season. There followed a succession of five coaches during the remainder of the campaign, which ended in relegation as they only won five games out of 30 and had also 8 draws. Further upheaval off the pitch followed as the club president, George Arvanitidis, announced his intention to leave.

The following season saw Veria relegated from Beta Ethniki to Gamma Ethniki again, after being docked by three points when Arvanitidis had a fight with the referee during a match against Ilisiakos,[3] accusing him for being suborn, something that it was never proved.[4] Arvanitidis again threatened to leave the club if people did not stop blaming him for the team's relegation. At the end of the season almost every player was released.[5]

The following season, 2009–10, Veria returned to Beta Ethniki. The promotion was secured in the last match of the season against Fokikos, a match in which Giorgos Kantimoiris saved almost every chance made by Veria. The next season, Kantimoiris joined Veria and became a vital part of the squad which celebrated the return in Superleague two years later.

2010s

Veria finished 9th in Beta Ethniki in 2010–11, the season in which that division was renamed as the Football League. The season was marred by the scandal of rigged games involving many teams from both the Football League and the Superleague. Veria was accused for fake translational awareness and they would be dismissed by the Football League. Something that never happened as Veria was proven to be innocent.

Despite the allegations, Veria played good attacking football, with Calvin Kadi scoring at will and Kalaitzidis having returned as coach since the end of the previous season when he saved them from relegation. The club began the season with three consecutive wins, which was the best start they had ever had in the division. Successes continued and the club returned to the Superleague after an absence of four years. Michael Olaitan, a vital part of the team was nominated as Talent of the Year, while Kadi was named Player of the Year, having finished second-highest goalscorer in the Football League with 19 goals. Georgios Kantimiris was nominated for the Goalkeeper of the Year award.

The return to the Superleague in 2012–13 was different from previous occasions. Veria signed some notable players, such as Nikos Georgeas, Pantelis Kafes, and Carlo Costly. The team performed well and retained their league status by finishing 12th in the table. Notable home wins included the 3–0 victory against Panathinaikos and the 5–0 success against Platanias.

During the summer transfer window of 2013 Veria signed 12 players, including the Serbian striker Miljan Mrdaković and the Czech midfielder, Petr Trapp.[6] At the end of the 2013–14 season, Veria's El Fardou Ben Nabouhane became the first player from the team to finish second in the list of Superleague Top Goalscorers, just one goal behind Xanthi's Esteban Solari. The club avoided relegation by finishing in 15th position. Due to the poor performances, despite avoiding relegation, Arvanitidis decided to take radical actions in order to improve matters. He decided to adopt the Spanish style of football, dismissing almost every player in the squad, signing Spanish players and promoting youngsters from the U20 team. He also hired the Spanish coach Quique Hernández as Director of Football and Jose Carlos Granero as the team manager.

On 6 August 2014 the owner and president of the club, Arvanitidis, announced his retirement after selling the club to Theodoros Karipidis, a local businessman.[7] Karipidis failed in an attempt to sign the Argentinian attacking midfielder Ariel Ibagaza because of the player's family issues but did sign some significant players, such as Giorgos Georgiadis, Giorgos Katidis, Roberto Battión, Javier Cámpora, the very promising Italian-Swedish striker Nicolao Dumitru, the Spanish star and former Real Madrid player Raúl Bravo, and the Serbian offensive midfielder, Zvonimir Vukić. During the winter transfer window Veria also signed the experienced forward, Thomas Nazlidis on a free transfer. Two more significant transfers took place during that window were Spanish midfielder Carlos Caballero, on a six-month loan from Córdoba and Andreas Tatos on a free transfer. Stelios Marangos and Neto also joined the club.

In the first season under Karipidis, Veria finished 14th in the Superleague Greece. At the start of the next season, Giorgos Lanaris resigned as team manager after being accused of involvement in fixing a 2012–13 away match between Veria and Olympiacos. Quique Hernández had been fired a few months earlier, along with Granero, after several bad results. Hernández was replaced by Zisis Vryzas in May 2015. On 19 May 2015, the club was judged innocent by the disciplinary committee of the Hellenic Football Federation regarding the match-fixing allegations, despite the statements of Nikos Georgeas and Dimitris Kalaitzidis against the club.[8][9]

Karipidis also applied changes to the youth squads as he decided to replace Stefanos Gaitanos, who was the head of the youth department for the last three seasons, with Apostolis Terzis, who had previously worked as the head coach of Lefkadia. The club then announced a major expansion and upgrade of Tagarochori Training Center.[10] Karipidis and Vryzas agreed that Georgiadis should replace Granero, who left the club in March 2015.

During his second season as owner, with the help of Vryzas and the head coach, Georgiadis, Karipidis achieved some significant transfers such as the Georgian midfielder, Giorgi Merebashvili and the French defender William Edjenguélé. He also negotiated the return of the Spanish goalkeeper Jonathan López. He was at first unsuccessful in signing the Algerian midfielder, Djamel Abdoun, due to a failure to agree personal terms, but a week later, Veria made an improved offer, with an annual salary of €250,000 and a bonus if the team qualified for the UEFA Europa League through the Superleague play-offs. The player and the club made an oral agreement, then waited for Abdoun to be released on a free transfer by Nottingham Forest. Abdoun was announced as a Veria player on 5 August 2015.[11]

On 6 August 2015, Veria signed Vaggelis Nastos, former captain of Atromitos. A day later, there was one more significant transfer with the arrival of the Polish midfielder Radosław Majewski, who was released on a free transfer from Nottingham Forest along with Abdoun.[12] With PAE Kerkyra being relegated to Football League, Veria approached and managed to sign for €100,000 per year the Bosnian forward, Saša Kajkut on a free transfer.[13] On 22 August 2015, Vryzas made an oral agreement with the Norwegian international defensive midfielder, Abdisalam Ibrahim who last played for Greek giants Olympiacos and who had also spent seven years with Manchester City, another significant transfer was done for the club. After a bad injury to Balafas, the club signed a one-year deal with their former defensive midfielder Stefanos Siontis, who had been playing for PAE Kerkyra.

On 30 August 2015, Karipidis' confirmed that a group of Chinese businessmen were interested in buying into the club, either as a whole or in part.[14] Karipidis claimed that the group represented a multinational company that wanted to invest in Greek football and in local society.[15] Two days after meeting with the Chinese in September, he said that the deal would be completed in about two or three months as the transfer of shares and the paperwork was a lengthy process.[16]

On 9 September 2015, Karipidis was named the head of football department of amateur club Aris.[17] This automatically meant that once Aris won promotion to the Football League he would be forced to quit as owner of Veria. In further specification, the Chinese group which represent a solar power major multinational company based in Shanghai are willing to invest approximately €10 million in order to buy club's shares package, renovate or build a new training center over Tagarochori Training Center region as well as rebuild Veria Stadium. Also they opt to upgrade all local training facilities of the city of Veria.[18]

On 19 January 2016, Karipidis fired Georgiadis and his staff as the club didn't satisfy with its performance as were as several results were disappointing.[19] On 26 January 2016 the former goalkeeper Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos was appointed as Veria's new coach with assistant the former European champion Stylianos Venetidis.[20] With Eleftheropoulos on the bench Veria avoid the relegation four fixtures before the finale of the championship for the first time in her recent history. During a press conference, Eleftheropoulos announced the reduction of budget to 50% of its current amount and the resignation of many players. He also stated that Veria's new season squad will be based on young talented Greek players in combination with older experienced players.

On 8 May 2016, Karipidis said he was very close to sealing a deal with a Chinese company.[21] He quit as Veria chairman and CEO on 30 May.[22] On 1 June 2016 it was announced that Veria reclaimed the permission of participating in 2016–17 Superleague Greece and would be allowed to proceed in transfer without any limitation.[23]

On 23 June 2016, the transfer of shares by Karipidis was complete and he quit all involvement in the club.[24]

Decline and dissolution (2016–2018)

After the sale of the club was completed, Veria announced a new kit sponsorship for season 2016–17 with the Italian company Givova.[25] After a poor season, both financially and on the pitch, despite remaining in the Superleague Greece, Vryzas and Eleftheropoulos decided to cut the club's budget by 5 per cent. As a result, players whose contracts posed a particular burden were released on free transfers and the plan was for the club to sign new talented players who had potential to be sold on in later years.

On 2 July 2016, Karipidis and Vryzas had a disagreement that led to Vryzas quitting his post. Vryzas's departure was followed by that of Eleftheropoulos, who left in sympathy. As a result, the club started to look for new manager.[26][27]

On 5 July 2016, the shares transfer was complete and the new major shareholder of the club and president, CEO was named Konstantinos Papadopoulos. A fruit and wood dealer who was Karipidis partner back in 2013 while he was also president of Olympiacos Galatades.[28]

Despite the strict budget policy that the new majorholder of the club decided to follow, he signed to the club twenty one players in his first spell as president of the club. Some of the significant deals that he managed to seal are the signing of the Argentinian forward Pablo Vitti, Greek striker Pantelis Kapetanos, Georgian international left back Giorgi Navalovski and the Spanish midfielder Sisinio. He also appointed to the club the Greek experienced coach Alekos Vosniadis, who replaced Eleftheropoulos.

On 8 September 2016, Committee of Professional Sports didn't allow the transfer of the club's shares from Theodoros Karipidis to Konstantinos Papadopoulos, cause the folder didn't meet the criteria. As a result, Veria wasn't grant a permission of participation to the 2016–17 Superleague Greece championship and they are facing a relegation penalty to Football League or even a ban from all professional football championships.[29]

On 22 September 2016, Committee of Professional Sports granted to Veria, the permission of participating to 2016–17 Superleague Greece as well as they approved the transfer shares of 93,53% from Theodoros Karipidis to Konstantinos Papadopoulos. Veria was fined €15,000 for their incomplete file on their first attempt.[30]

On September 23, 2016, club coach Alekos Vosniadis left the club after a disagreement between him and the club's board. Thomas Grafas was appointed as his successor a day later on 24 September 2016.[31] After a controversial 4-month spell being the head coach of the club, Grafas and Veria mutually terminated their contract. During his spell as Veria's manager, Grafas achieved to be disliked by the majority of the fans as well as any player of the club and its staff. The contract termination was announced on 26 January 2017. Grafas stayed in the bench of the club for 17 games with a record of one win, eight draws and eight defeats.

Despite the decision of the board to trust the U20 manager Tolis Terzis for the remaining of the season, after the three conesecutive defeats from Olympiacos, AEK and home defeat against Panionios, the board of Veria decided to bring Ratko Dostanić for his third spell in the club and fight the battle for survival in the top tier of the Greek football till the end. On 13 February 2017, Veria announced the appointment of Ratko Dostanić for the remaining of the season.

On April 9, 2017, Veria suffered a 1–0 away loss against Panetolikos and got relegated to 2017–18 Football League.

Season's 2017–18 found Queen relegated to the Football League. The club due to heavy financial problems suffered a 6 points removal as they failed to pay Antonio Tomás González and Roberto Battión. On 23 February 2018, Veria officially withdrew from the championship due to heavy financial problems.[32]

On July 6, 2018, the first division disciplinary board of the Football League condemned the club according to the championship's rules about mid season withdrawal to relegation to the Hellenic Amateur Divisions and also starting with –6 points.[33]

Re-generation: Bikas Group and partners era

Amateur Veria elections

On 4 July 2018, the re-activation of Amateur Veria took place with a temporary administration appointed by Veria's local court which set an official election day on 30 July 2018.[34] On 30 July 2018, during Veria's amateur elections, Stefanos Apostolidis was appointed as the chairman of the board of the amateur as a representative of Bikas Group and partners. After three consecutive unsuccessful campaigns, Bikas Bros. finally took charge of the club. On the same day, the board decided Veria's merge with Elpis Skoutari by gaining the tax registration number of the Elpis Skoutari and start from scratch as a debt-free club. The merge made the new Veria eligible to participate in 2018–19 Gamma Ethniki as Elpis Skoutari avoided relegation from 2017–18 Gamma Ethniki.[35]

The new board appointed Nikolaos Papanotas as manager and Giorgos Metaxas as technical director.[36]

FC Veria

On 13 August 2018 the club's press office announced that the club had applied to participate in the 2018–19 Gamma Ethniki championship under the name Veria F.C. (Π.Σ. Βέροια - Ποδοσφαιρικός Σύλλογος Βέροια).[37]

On 1 September 2018 the new board of the club introduced the new club logo. A logo based on a shield shape featuring a crown which refers to Veria's nickname "Queen of the North", a huge Greek letter beta which refers to both initials of the Greek name of the club "Βέροια" (Veria) and the nickname of "Βασίλισσα του Βορρά" (Queen of the North), 1960 which is the founding year of the club and the club's historic colours blue and crimson. The new logo was introduced to the public through a video uploaded on the official facebook page of the club.[38]

Name, crest and colours

The name of the team as well as its colours of the new team that it would occur after the merge were two of the highly important subjects to be solved. As regards the name, there were several suggestions. But the solution was given by G.Lelekakis, who suggested that the team should be named "Veria" as the Italians did to their clubs too, his suggestion was immediately accepted and voted by everyone. Although, due to the rules of that era the name should include words related to the beaten path and reactions, Giannis Kourtis, who has died, suggested to add G.A.S. which meant (Gymanstikos Athlitikos Sillogos), Gymnastic Athletic Club of Veria. So the full club name would be G.A.S. Veria (Greek: Γ.Α.Σ. Βέροια).

As it comes to the choice of the colours, decisive role had the former player and coach of Vermio and former International player of Panionios, Kostas Sotiriadis (Kostaras) who suggested the colours of crimson and blue. That means the colours of Panionios where he did a great football career. Kostaras' suggestion was accepted by the members of the committee as they didn't want to choose colours that would be related to the old club of Vermio (yellow-black) nor of Hermes (green-white). They wanted something new that would be accepted by all Veria fans.

The old crest of Veria used from the 90s until 1 September 2018.
The new crest of Veria as introduced by the club on 1 September 2018

Kit evolution

1960–61
1965–66
2000–01
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
Period Kit Manufacturer Shirt Partner
1985–88 Diadora Macle Jeans
Pro-Po
1996–97 Lotto –
1997–99 Umbro Ksisto
1999–00 Adidas Laiko Lacheio
2000–05 Umbro -
2005–11 Mitre Super-Markets Arvanitidis
2011–12 Nike
2012–13 Hummel Lotto
2013–14 Kappa
2014–15 Joker
2015–16 Nike Stoiximan.gr
2016–17 Givova Joker
Feta Voskopoula
(Backshirt)
2017–18 No sponsor No sponsor
2018–19 GSA Sport TBA

Club anthem

Veria's first and original anthem was written back in 1960 by the Greek singer and composer Giorgos Kalogirou. In the lyrics there are references to the history of the club as well as to the clubs Ermis and Vermion who merged back in 1960 and created Veria.

Veria's club new anthem was written and composed by Nektarios Mpitros and sung by Charis Akritidis. The new club anthem was released on 23 August 2014 [39]

Supporters

Queen's Boyz & Kallithea Fans
Veria fans during the 80s

In 1966 the first fan-supporting club of Veria FC was founded and it was named Club of Veria's fans. Today, the club exists but is inactive as there are no official registered members. Few years ago there was a try of re-establishing the club by electing a new management board and by registering new members, but at the end the idea was abandoned. In early 1991 the most successful and powerful club of Veria's supporters, Club of Fans Veria «Gate 4», was founded. The club supported the team for almost a decade inside and outside of Veria as many trips were organised and supported by the club's members in order to support Veria away from her base. Five years later, some members of «Gate 4» who disagreed with the leaders' ideas of the club, left and found another club of supporters which was named Club Vissini (Club Crimson). Club Vissini was disbanded after three years of its foundation, but it was already a part of Veria's bright history as they supported the team for three years in a row.

In 2003 and since Veria was again promoted to Gamma Ethniki there was no club of supporters as Club of Veria's fans was remaining inactive and «Gate 4» club was also disbanded. To cover this absence, Rossoblu Club was found by old members of «Gate 4» and from a younger fan base. The club achieved to unite the citizens and fans of Veria in a tough time of Veria's history while she was trying to return to Beta Ethniki and later to Alpha Ethniki. Rossoblu club was responsible for the arrangement of some big trips such as in Kavala, Serres, Drama, Ioannina, Larisa and Thessaloniki while they followed the team in each away match.

While Club Rossoble was still active, a group of fans from Makrochori found another fan club, which was named Fan Club of Makrochori Veria's, a club which after a short period of time got its own base in the city centre of Veria. This fan club as it was organised in 2007 was the 'ancestor' of the powerful present fan club, Queen's Boyz. Since then Queen's Boyz support Veria in every home ground game while they organise big trips for Veria's away games.

During the summer of 2013, in Kallithea, a suburb of Veria, a new fan club named Veria Fans Kallithea was found and its base is located in St. Komninon 91.

The fans of Veria never gave up on team, although the last five years due to Veria's bad league performance (including a relegation to Gamma Ethniki in 2008–09) the fans got disappointed. As a result of this disappointment Veria lost a serious number of fans. Thankfully this wouldn't last for long, today Veria is back on the road of success, she is back to the Alpha Ethniki, which is renamed to Superleague. Veria slowly gains the trust of her fans again and the amount of supporters is getting bigger and bigger.

On 21 August 2015, Queen's Boyz announced their re-activation.[40]

In February 1957 and while playing for Vermion, the goalkeeper of the team, Kostas Pantelidis, died after hitting his head on a goalpost while trying to make a save. Few years later on 22 December 1968 a supporter of team, Lampros Michailidis during the match against Olympiacos died from a heart attack after seeing a close-range shot from Olympiacos' player Giorgos Sideris saved by Giorgos Masadis.

On 2 September 2015, a promising young goalkeeper, Asteris Merkousis, died from a heart attack during a training session.[41]

Most receipts

# Match Tickets Score Date
1
Veria vs Panathinaikos
 10,309 0–0 20 September 1970
2
Veria vs Doxa Dramas
 10,135 2–1 12 April 1970
3
Veria vs Doxa Dramas
 9,500 0–0 23 January 1977
4
Veria vs PAOK
 9,500 1–3 9 April 1978
5
Veria vs Olympiacos
 9,028 2–1 30 January 1972
6
Veria vs PAOK
 8,506 1–0 1 November 1970
7
Veria vs Olympiacos
 8,234 0–0 22 December 1968
8
Veria vs Olympiacos
 8,226 2–1 22 April 1968
9
Veria vs PAOK
 8,149 2–1 30 April 1972
10
Veria vs Aris
 8,145 2–1 26 January 1969

Affiliated Clubs

On 3 September 2013 Veria's directive board announced the beginning of the affiliation link with Sporting CP. Sporting CP will be able to send on loan players to Veria. Also, the deal included an exchange of expertise between the teams on football stuff. The first player sent on loan to Veria from Sporting CP was Zezinho who made 24 appearances with Veria during the 2013–14 season.[42] The affiliation link was terminated in 2014 after Karipidis bought the club.

On 25 August 2016 Veria & local amateur football club AS Nireas Veria agreed on an affiliation link between the clubs. The main part of the agreement states that Nireas will provide to Veria young and talented players instead of giving them out to other Greek teams or foreigners teams. With this deal, Veria can become the selling club once she was since she provived the big four of Greece (Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, AEK & PAOK) with many talented players who later went on doing great football careers.[43]

  • Greece Nireas Veria

Rivalries

During the era of the 1990s, Imathia had a great development at her economy and this had a great impact at her football. This development had as a result the rise of Naoussa and Pontioi Verias. Naoussa achieved to win the promotion to Alpha Ethniki in season 1993–94 while Pontioi Verias reached Beta Ethniki in 1992 where they played for 3 constitutive seasons before they finish 17th in season 1994–95 and get relegated. Both Naoussa and Pontioi Verias where seriously damaged by the final crisis in Macedonia and they couldn't return to the greater categories. Though the participation of these two teams in the higher championships developed the rivalry between Veria's fans, Pontioi's fans and Naoussa's fans. In season 1994–95 would find Veria, Naoussa and Pontioi Verias playing in Beta Ethniki. It was the first and the only time during football's history where these three teams would perform at the same championship, at the same season.

Stadium

Veria Stadium
West stand of Veria Stadium

The home ground of Veria is Veria Stadium which is a multi-purpose stadium located in Veria, Greece. It is used for football matches while in the past several music concerts took place their. The stadium was built in 1925. Since then, many improvements have been made, including adding of more seats in the stadium. Today the stadium holds about 7,000. It is situated 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) off the city centre. It was built in 1925 by members of music and gymnastics association Megas Alexandros. Record attendance is 10,309 for a game between Veria and Panathinaikos in 1970. However, during a game between Veria and PAOK there were about 12,000 fans, but most of them entered the stadium without a ticket. The stadium formerly held track races too but after the renovations in 2005 and 2007 the space for track runners was removed.

Training Facilities

The privately owned sports center of Veria FC is located in Tagarochori region, just outside the city of Veria. It has two full-size football pitches with grandstand and lighting, as well as a building that has locker rooms, fully equipped fitness center and guest house with many amenities for players of the "Queen". On 18 June 2015, Veria FC board announced a major upgrade of their training facilities in Tagarochori.[44] After the end of the upgrade the training center will include new locker rooms, new gym, sauna, whirlpool, recovery room, utility rooms and a brand new pitch, based on Superleague Greece main football pitch technical standards in order to provide the best available training invorement. The construction is set to finish in the end of the summer and the upgraded center is expected to be one of the most modern of Greece.

Honours

Domestic Titles and honours

League Performance

  • Only for season 2000–01 Alpha Ethniki was renamed to National Division, Beta Ethniki was renamed to 1st Division and Gamma Ethniki was renamed to 2nd Division

    (C) = Champions (P) = Promoted (R) = Relegated

    Notable wins

    Season Match Score
    Alpha Ethniki – Superleague
    1967–68 Veria – Olympiacos 2–1
    1971–72 Veria – Olympiacos 2–1
    1987–88 Veria – Olympiacos 1–0
    1996–97 Veria – Olympiacos 1–0
    1997–98 Veria – Olympiacos (at OAKA) 2–0
    1966–67 Panathinaikos – Veria 0–1
    1977–78 Veria – Panathinaikos 3–1
    2012–13 Veria – Panathinaikos 3–0
    2014–15 Veria – Panathinaikos 1–0
    1967–68 Veria – AEK Athens 1–0
    1971–72 Veria – AEK Athens 1–0
    1987–88 Veria – AEK Athens 1–0
    1997–98 AEK Athens – Veria 1–2
    1967–68 PAOK – Veria 1–2
    1970–71 Veria – PAOK 1–0
    1971–72 Veria – PAOK 1–0
    1986–87 Veria – PAOK 1–0
    1987–88 Veria – PAOK 2–1
    1967–68 Veria – Aris 2–1
    1968–69 Veria – Aris 2–1
    1970–71 Veria – Aris 1–0
    1986–87 Aris – Veria 0–1
    1986–87 Veria – Aris 1–0
    2007–08 Veria – Aris 1–0
    2012–13 Veria – Aris 3–1
    1985–86 Veria – Skoda Xanthi 4–1
    1986–87 Veria – Ethnikos 5–2
    1996–97 Veria – Kavala 4–0
    1996–97 Veria – Panachaiki 4–0
    1996–97 Veria – Kastoria 4–0
    1997–98 Veria – Kavala 4–2
    1997–98 Veria – Panionios 4–0
    2011–12 Veria – Platanias 5–0
    2012–13 Veria – Platanias 5–0
    2013–14 Veria – Levadiakos 4–3
    2014–15 Veria – OFI Crete 4–1
    2013–14 Veria – Asteras Tripolis 1–0
    2014–15 Veria – Asteras Tripolis 4–0

    Best campaigns

    Season Achievement Notes
    Greek Cup
    1977–78 Quarter-finals eliminated by PAOK 5–0 in Thessaloniki.
    2012–13 Quarter-finals eliminated by Panthrakikos 1–0 in Komotini, 0–1 in Veria
    2014–15 Top 16 eliminated by Panionios 2–1 in Athens, 1–1 in Veria
    Amateurs' Cup
    2002–03 Final Champions against Preveza 2–1 in Sofades

    Summary

    Superleague Greece – Overall

    Pos Team Seasons Points Played Won Drawn Lost G.F. G.A. G.D. 1 2 3 1st App Since/Last App Best
    18Veria17635509139139242464721−257–––1966–672016–179

    League or status at 2017–18 in Greek football:

    2017–18 Super League
    2017–18 Football League
    2017–18 Football League 2
    2017–18 Local Championships
    Club disappeared

    Players

    First team squad

    As of 24 September 2017[45]

    Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

    No. Position Player
    3 Greece DF Nikiforos Tsontakis
    4 Albania DF Jorgo Meksi
    5 Greece DF Charalampos Damianakis
    6 Greece DF Dimitrios Oungialidis
    8 Greece FW Ilias Ignatidis
    10 Greece MF Pavlos Laskaris
    11 Serbia MF David Dujić
    12 Greece GK Rafail Soilemezoglou
    No. Position Player
    15 Greece DF Sofokolis Radis
    17 Ghana FW Gideon Ofei
    20 Greece MF Thomas Papadopoulos
    21 Greece DF Vangelis Lazopoulos
    23 Greece FW Ioakeim Zyngeridis
    38 Greece DF Stelios Kapsalis
    96 Greece GK Theodoros Venetikidis
    99 Ghana MF Alex Yamoah

    Out on loan

    Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

    No. Position Player
    Greece MF Thomas Papadopoulos (on loan to Greece Aiginiakos)
    No. Position Player

    Veria U20 Squad

    As of 31 August 2017[46]

    Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

    No. Position Player
    — Greece GK Prodromos Baltsiotis
    — Greece GK Theodoros Venetikidis
    — Greece DF Mihalis Patsiavouras
    — Greece DF Vasilis Vatmanidis
    — Greece DF Alexandros Vasaras
    — Greece DF Tasos Apostolidis
    — Greece DF Dionysis Tsiouchas
    — Albania DF Tsollachai Eral
    — Greece DF Dinos Panteloglou
    — Greece DF Lazos Efthimiadis
    — Greece DF Thanasis Tsiotras
    No. Position Player
    — Greece DF Giorgos Nikopoulos
    — Greece MF Athanassios Tselepis
    — Greece MF Alexandros Doris
    — Greece MF Manolis Airantzis
    — Greece MF Aristos Stylidis
    — Greece MF Andreas Koumparopoulos
    — Greece FW Alexandros Iakovidis
    — Greece FW Ioakim Zigeridis
    — Greece FW Nika McDentville
    — Greece FW Tasos Karagiannis

    One-club men

    No. Player Nationality Position Debut Last match
    1 Giorgos Masadis  Greece Goalkeeper 28 August 1966 31 May 1981

    Notable players

    Greek players
    African players
    American players
    European players
    Oceanian players

    Most appearances

    Superleague top scorers

    Club officials

    Managerial history

    Presidential history

     
    Name Nationality Years
    Grigoris Kouteris Greece 1960–62
    Alexandros Kontopoulos Greece 1962–63
    Thomas Kallimpakas Greece 1963–65
    Vaggelis Triantafillidis Greece 1965–66
    Antonis Tsirtopoulos Greece 1966–67
    Vaggelis Triantafillidis Greece 1967–69
    Panagiotis Iordanou Greece 1969
    Charis Papachrisanthou Greece 1969–70
    Giorgos Tsaleras Greece 1970–71
    Vaggelis Triantafillidis Greece 1971–72
    Ilias Lazos Greece 1972–73
    Stathis Panagiotidis Greece 1973–74
    Thomas Kouteris Greece 1974–75
    Giannis Dimitrakakis Greece 1975–76
    Thomas Kouteris Greece 1976
    Lakis Paschalidis Greece 1976–77
    Giorgos Fakas Greece 1977–78
    Michalis Karasavvidis Greece 1978
    Ilias Liatos Greece 1978–81
    		  
    Name Nationality Years
    Charis Savvidis Greece 1981–82
    Panagiotis Lekkas Greece 1982–85
    Stefanos Kasapis Greece 1985–87
    Thanasis Limpantsis Greece 1987–91
    Stelios Kiriakidis Greece 1991–93
    Konstantinos Ygropoulos Greece 1993
    Giorgos Terzis Greece 1993
    Antonis Alexiadis Greece 1993–94
    Vasilis Tsamitros (†) Greece 1994–98
    Alexis Kougias Greece 1998
    Vasilis Tsamitros (†) Greece 1998–01
    Thanasis Mpizetas Greece 2001
    Konstantinos Gaivases Greece 2001–03
    Nikos Papadopoulos Greece 2003–05
    Giorgos Arvanitidis Greece 2005–14
    Theodoros Karipidis Greece 2014–16
    Konstantinos Papadopoulos Greece 2016–18
    Stefanos Apostolidis Greece 2018–

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ "Veria Municipal Stadium" (in Greek). veriafc.gr. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
    2. ↑ http://www.bikas.gr/
    3. ↑ http://www.kerkidasport.gr/index.php/-categories-32/1293--------
    4. ↑ http://www.kerkidasport.gr/index.php/-categories-32/1362-2009-05-18-18-26-37
    5. ↑ http://www.kerkidasport.gr/index.php/-categories-32/1364-2009-05-19-20-06-47
    6. ↑ Super User. "Ιστορία". ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ – ΕΠΙΣΗΜΗ ΙΣΤΟΣΕΛΙΔΑ. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
    7. ↑ Antonis. "Ανακοίνωση". ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ – ΕΠΙΣΗΜΗ ΙΣΤΟΣΕΛΙΔΑ. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
    8. ↑ OTO – Dev. "Απόφαση Πειθαρχικής Επιτροπής – Super League Ελλάδα". Retrieved 26 June 2015.
    9. ↑ "ΟΡΙΣΤΙΚΟ: ΑΘΩΩΘΗΚΕ Η ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ!!".
    10. ↑ Antonis. "Εκσυγχρονίζεται το προπονητικό κέντρο". ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ – ΕΠΙΣΗΜΗ ΙΣΤΟΣΕΛΙΔΑ. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
    11. ↑ Antonis. "Ποδοσφαιριστής της Βέροιας ο Djamal Abdoun".
    12. ↑ Antonis. "Ποδοσφαιριστής της Βέροιας ο Radoslaw Majewski".
    13. ↑ Zisis. "Sasa Kajkut για 2 χρόνια".
    14. ↑ "Ραντεβού... στο Μιλάνο!".
    15. ↑ "Δεν άρεσε καθόλου στον Σαββίδη η ιδέα για Άρη".
    16. ↑ "Metrosport".
    17. ↑ "Καρυπίδης αντί Αρβανιτίδη στον Άρη".
    18. ↑ Κώστας, Τσιμόπουλος. "Συνεχίζονται οι επαφές Καρυπίδη με τους Κινέζους".
    19. ↑ Antonis. "Λύση συνεργασίας με Γιώργο Γεωργιάδη".
    20. ↑ Antonis. "Νέος προπονητής της "Βασίλισσας" ο Δημήτρης Ελευθερόπουλος".
    21. ↑ "Καρυπίδης: "Κινέζικη εταιρεία για τη ΒΕΡΟΙΑ"".
    22. ↑ Antonis. "Παραίτηση Θόδωρου Καρυπίδη".
    23. ↑ "Πήρε άδεια η Βέροια!".
    24. ↑ "Ολοκληρώθηκε και τυπικά η πώληση της ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ!".
    25. ↑ Antonis. "Έναρξη συνεργασίας με Givova".
    26. ↑ "Τρέχουν οι εξελίξεις στην ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ!".
    27. ↑ "ΒΕΡΟΙΑ: Τέλος ο Ελευθερόπουλος, σε αναζήτηση προπονητή!".
    28. ↑ "Οριστικό: Νέο αφεντικό στην ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ!".
    29. ↑ Κινδυνεύει με υποβιβασμό η Βέροια!
    30. ↑ Μοναδικό κόστος 15.000 ευρώ για τη Βέροια
    31. ↑ Θωμάς Γράφας
    32. ↑ Τέλος και επίσημα η Βέροια
    33. ↑ Αποφάσεις του Πρωτοβάθμιου Μονομελούς Πειθαρχικού Οργάνου της Football League
    34. ↑ Επίσημα διοίκηση στον ΓΑΣ
    35. ↑ Και με τη βούλα οι ΑΦΟΙ Μπίκα στη Βέροια
    36. ↑ Κατεβαίνει στη Γ΄Εθνική με άλλο ΑΦΜ η Βέροια
    37. ↑ Τι θα γινει με τον ΓΑΣ Βέροια
    38. ↑ Το νέο σήμα της Βασίλισσας του Βορρά
    39. ↑ Antonis. "Ο νέος ύμνος της "Βασίλισσας του Βορρά"". ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ – ΕΠΙΣΗΜΗ ΙΣΤΟΣΕΛΙΔΑ. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
    40. ↑ "Ο Σ.Φ. ΒΕΡΟΙΑΣ "Queen's Boyz" επιστρέφει δυναμικά!".
    41. ↑ "Σοκ στην ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ από τον θάνατο νεαρού ποδοσφαιριστή!!!".
    42. ↑ Συνεργασία Βέροιας- Σπόρτινγκ Λισαβόνας (in Greek). sport-fm.gr. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
    43. ↑ Συνεργασία της Π.Α.Ε. Βέροιας με τον ΑΣ Νηρέας
    44. ↑ Antonis. "Εκσυγχρονίζεται το προπονητικό κέντρο". ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ – ΕΠΙΣΗΜΗ ΙΣΤΟΣΕΛΙΔΑ. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
    45. ↑ "Veria FC squad" (in Greek). superleaguegreece.net. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
    46. ↑ "Veria FC U20 squad" (in Greek). Superleague Greece. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
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